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Source: Reuters
New Zealanders are not travelling as much as they want to and money is their biggest barrier to going away more, according to a new survey.
The Fly Buys-Colmar Brunton Mood of the New Zealand Traveller survey found that over 2.6 million Kiwis spent at least one night away from home for leisure in the past six months.
And 80% said they would spend more nights away if they could, money being their biggest barrier.
It also found that 22% of Kiwis were still considering their options for Labour weekend.
Fly Buys CEO Andy Symons says tourism operators should look at Labour Weekend as an opportunity to offer a deal.
He says almost a fifth of Kiwis are open to an offer and 80% say money is the biggest brake on their travel.
"That suggests that targeted value-based offers might be the biggest opportunity this Labour Weekend - maybe including partial use of loyalty points or value-based packages with other operators," he says.
The survey also showed that the internet continues to grow as a planning tool for travellers, with 35% saying they planned their trip online.
TIA Chief Executive Tim Cossar says the survey will be a valuable new source of information for tourism operators.
The survey is released by the Tourism Industry Association New Zealand and was launched on Tuesday by the Prime Minister at the Tourism Leaders Symposium in Wellington.
The survey aims to give tourism operators an insight into New Zealanders' motivations for travel, what encourages them to travel and what prevents them from travelling more.
It questioned 1,000 New Zealanders aged 18 and over.
